A 15-storey seniors residential complex being proposed near the Kyle Community Centre in Port Moody could face some significant challenges.
Tuesday, council’s city initiatives and planning committee gets an opportunity to provide early input to the project’s proponents, Avenir Senior Living in partnership with local developer, the Dulex Laidler Group.
The complex consists of 194 residential units in a 15-storey tower that includes a podium of five or six storeys; 46 of the units in the top five floors would be privately-owned condos, 100 full-service independent and assisted living rental units and 48 community and memory care units.
The proponents say the project would create about 88 full and part time jobs.
In a pre-application presentation to council early last year, Avenir principal Jason Craik said the facility would be “like living on a cruise ship” for residents. He said the full-service rental units would likely cost $5,000 a month, including all meals, snacks and services like cleaning and utilities.
Craik said the complex care units would allow residents to stay in the building should their needs increase.
“This is a continuum of care,” he said. “It allows people to come in independently and then age in place.”
Craik, whose Vancouver Island-based company operates a similar facility in Esquimalt, said most prospective residents would likely be downsizing from single-family homes, so they’d have the means to live at the complex.
“We want something special for seniors.”
While some councillors at the time expressed dismay at the “pretty swanky accommodations, others said there is a market for luxury seniors housing.
A review by the city’s land use community on June 5 identified several concerns, including:
- the building’s 15-storey height that could set a precedent for the neighbourhood
- its density
- its distance from transit and other amenities
- insufficient accessible parking
Subsequently, the city’s advisory design panel wouldn’t give its endorsement to the proposal, citing its height, density and lack of heritage characteristics.
Instead, the panel recommended the proponent consider scaling back the size and massing of the buildings, include some sort of heritage characteristic into their design to fit in better with the surrounding neighbourhood, improve the pedestrian experience around the complex, explore the possibility of collaborating with the city to revitalize Kyle Park as well as allow community use of proposed amenities for residents like a beauty salon.
In a report, Port Moody senior planner Kevin Jones said while there is a need for new seniors housing project, “the proposal does represent a significant departure from what is currently envisaged for this neighbourhood.”
Jones suggested further work could result in “a design option that would allow this unique application to move forward.”
To proceed, the project would require amendments to the city’s zoning bylaws and official community plan.
